Confirmed

One thing I like a lot is finding people who know what they're talking about, and then following their advice when it applies to a situation in which you find yourself. It's all about knowing whose advice is valid on a given topic, because often people are willing to give it without the either knowledge or experience. Unbuttressed, if you will.

With all the school ruckus I turned to a very dear and long time friend whose advice I value over just about any others, in part because she doesn't give it out a whole lot and when she does it's well reasoned and backed by organic veggies. She is a nurse practitioner in a tiny hamlet in Amishland. I was all full steam ahead with the intense 3 year take-your-old-degree-and transform-it-into-a masters-in-nursing plan, when she pointed out that having the masters is good, but bypassing the RN phase of the process is not wise (you do sit for the exam, but are only allowed to do your clinicals as an RN because of an agreement with the state of WI). Without the floor experience of the nurse, she said, the nurse practitioner is often missing a wide base of knowledge upon which to draw. Interesting, I thought. She said that there were many times in her practice where she thought back to her years on the cardiac floor and applied that experience to the patient at hand. Good point, I thought. Also the MSN without the RN means you don't actually have the separate RN degree--a useful one under many circumstances.

I changed my plan without further ado. It's good to have a friend like that, someone whose advice on a matter you trust so implicitly that acting upon it raises little doubt in your mind. But in the past week, I've happened upon 3 nurses, all of whom have not just agreed with her perspective, but almost vehemently felt that the no RN option is not the right way forward in nursing. It was cool to hear that from other sources as well, and it was honestly almost word for word in accordance with what my bestie had advised. So in spite of having added a year to the plan, and then probably a little more when I decided to forge on with the DNP, I feel pretty good about it. I don't want to be a house of cards nurse practitioner. That was figurative speech and if it was confusing I apologize but I felt bold and whimsical for a moment there.

Thanks, NP friend in Amishland. Your wisdom was wise.